Ddoiam Dekky wrote:I have been self trained on Java for about two years and currently enrolled in a formal training program, I need a place in Maryland where I can volunteer to gain more java coding experience. Will appreciate your suggestions - thanks!
I don't know what it's like in Maryland, but in Ontario, Canada the government has retraining or job placement programs that include low or no paying co-op placements like you speak of. I have a friend who was a C++ programmer who started by doing free work that way, and it turned into a full time job after several months. Check with your State Government.
The Internet is a good place to get ideas. Check out the website sourceforge.net. It is dedicated to open source software, and there is always projects thyat need developers.
Try to come up with your own project, one that will challenge you to expand your skills. I am not an advanced programmer, and I myself have such a project, I have written a chess program in java, and there is always room for improvement. I have a
thread in the Game Programming forum,you can have a look at. If this interests you, you can respond there or send me a PM.